- Buddy Boy
Infobox Film
name = Buddy Boy
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caption =
director =Mark Hanlon
producer =Cary Woods
writer =Mark Hanlon
starring =Aidan Gillen Emmanuelle Seigner Susan Tyrrell
music =Michael Brook Brian Eno Graeme Revell
cinematography =Hubert Taczanowski
editing =Hughes Winborne
distributor =Fine Line Features
released = March 24, 2000
runtime = 105 min
rating = R for sexuality, violence, language and some drug use.
country = USA
awards =
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:181399
imdb_id = 0146516"Buddy Boy", a
psychological thriller written and directed byMark Hanlon , premiered to a standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 1999 in the Cinema del Presente section. It subsequently bowed at the Toronto International Film Festival (World Cinema section) and South by Southwest Film Festival before being released theatrically by Fine Line Features in North America on March 24th, 2000. ["Replusion Meets Rear Window", "Preview Magazine", September 1999:16] Rex Reed of the "New York Observer " in reviewing the film called it "a curious, unsettling, darkly conceived and absolutely fascinating little film. Not since Roman Polanski at the pinnacle of his European weirdness have I seen a film this strange and riveting." [Reed, Rex, "You May Never Take Another Bath," New York Observer 26 March 2000] Following its North American premiere, Buddy Boy was released theatrically in a variety of international territories and continues to enjoy extensive airing on the Sundance Channel, IFC, BBC, RTÉ, and many other cable and broadcast outlets. International DVD releases have been made in Japan, Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom. The special edition DVD was released in North America by Image Entertainment on September 25, 2005. On September 11, 2007 it was released as part of a three-film DVD triptych along with Antonia Bird's Face and Peter Medak's Let Him Have It.Plot Synopsis
The story of a pious introvert whose religious conviction begins to crumble under the weight of a cruel and strange existence, Buddy Boy is a stylistically bold study of faith, obsession, alienation and madness. The film's title character, Francis, lives with his invalid, abusive mother in a dingy tenement apartment, and has suffered a life of unrelenting misfortune and brutality. Over time, he has withdrawn from the world and into himself, silently observing others rather than interacting with them. His only solace has been his Catholicism, but he has begun to question his faith in a loving God who could countenance so much evil and pain. When he discovers he can see into the apartment of a beautiful, mysterious woman from his own back stairs, Francis cannot stop watching her, even after he meets her and they become romantically involved. Unable or unwilling to believe that she could actually love him, he becomes ever more obsessive in his voyeurism. And it is what Francis sees – or thinks he sees – that leads ultimately to his undoing.
References
External links
* [http://www.observer.com/node/42742/ NEW YORK OBSERVER You May Never Take Another Bath]
* [http://www.preview-online.com/sept_oct/feature_articles/buddyboy/ PREVIEW ONLINE Repulsion Meets Rear Window]
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